You're Cordially Invited
by Stratagem
Summary: Levi and Hanji's daughter invites Levi to a tea party. He must encourage this love of tea. And this is all just fluff, SO MUCH FLUFF.


Disclaimer: I don't own Attack on Titan! :D

A/N: Ava is 5 and Levi is really happy that she enjoys tea. He must encourage this love. And this is all just fluff, SO MUCH FLUFF.

You're Cordially Invited

Levi was finishing up a report when a piece of folded up paper slid under the door of the study. He glanced over to see little fingers push it farther in the room before disappearing again. Light, quick footsteps retreated from the door as he got up and retrieved the paper.

' _Your invitted to Tee in mi ruum. Plees wear niCe closs. Plees com to Tee_. _Love u, AVA._ '

At the bottom of the paper there was a pair of bubble-like figures, one taller than the other and wearing a cravat while the other was small and wearing a blue dress. They were both smiling and holding hands but lifting up cups of tea with their free hands.

Hmm. He folded up the paper and stuck in on the edge of his desk, knowing that later he was going to tack it onto the wall along with other drawings Remy and Ava had done. While most of the study was covered in maps and Hanji's rabid research, there was one wall dedicated to things the kids had created. That included the confiscated potato catapult Remy had made, which Levi and Hanji had hung from the ceiling, where he couldn't get to it. It was intricate and took a lot of work, and neither of them could bring themselves to get rid of it even if Remy had broken five windows while testing it out without permission and nearly knocked their next-door-neighbor unconscious in the process.

Today it was just Levi and Ava at home. Hanji was at headquarters, presumably harassing someone about an idea she had last night, while Remy had tagged along to visit his friend Kostya, who lived in the barracks with his sister. Ava hadn't wanted to go, and Levi had decided to stay back with her and finish reports at home instead of his office.

Afternoon tea sounded like a good time to take a break. He was going to have to change though. The grey long-sleeve and trousers he was wearing weren't proper 'nice' clothes. Plus there was something else he wanted to do.

After jotting down a quick note, he straightened up his desk, pushed in his chair, and upstairs. He slipped the note under Ava's door and then went back downstairs, toward the kitchen.

' _Yes, I accept your invitation, and I look forward to afternoon tea. –Levi Ackerman, Papa, Survey Corps Captain'_

Ava was pretty sure that she knew what Papa's note said even if she didn't know all the words, and she dashed around her room, straightening up the last few details. She kept her room neat and tidy by default, but she knew her papa kept a slightly higher standard of clean than she did. Getting down on her rug, she shoved a couple toys into the bottom drawer of her dresser before springing onto the bed to line her toys up by size.

With everything looking a little better, she turned to the small table where she had set up the tea party. Her little tea set was on the table, and she had brought in cloth napkins and some cookies from the kitchen. She couldn't actually make tea because she wasn't allowed to use the stove, but Papa was good at make-believe. It'd be okay. But she did have a white lacey table cloth so everything looked very nice.

She tapped the toes of her bright white shoes on the ground and tugged on her party dress, looking for wrinkles. The dress was blue because that was her favorite color, and she had put on a bow that was the same color that her mother had bought her at the market last week. It was cute, and the ribbons were long and came down past her shoulders, where she liked to play with the ends.

A quiet knock made her hurry over to the door, grabbing it so she could welcome her guest inside.

Her papa was dressed in a super clean Survey Corps uniform, and he was wearing his white neck scarf thing and he had his boots on and everything. It looked like he was going to a really important meeting, and she was glad that she had picked out one of her best dresses. He was also holding a tray with the tea pot, a couple tea cups, and other stuff from the really special tea set that Mama had gotten him earlier that year. Ava could smell that there was real tea in the pot, and she bounced on her toes, forgetting to be a proper lady for a moment.

"Thank you for inviting me to tea," her dad said, and he bowed to her, looking very official.

Ava quickly curtsied back. "Thank you for coming," she said, trying to stay just as polite as he was being. She curtsied again for good measure. "And for bringing tea!"

"You're welcome." He nodded and walked over to set down the tea tray on the table. Ava rushed over and took some of her stuff off the table to make more room, beaming at the idea of drinking real tea instead of the invisible kind. She laughed as her dad reached over and gave her hair a gentle tug. "You look pretty, chatterbox."

"Thank you, you look nice, too. I like your boots, they're really shiny." She could almost see her reflection in them.

"Thanks." He pulled one of the chairs out, and she sat down, fluffing out her skirt. "Where did you get the cookies from?"

"Mama has them in a drawer. She thinks they're hiding there but they're not," she said, reaching over and sliding a couple of them onto his plate as he folded himself into the chair. He looked a little silly since the chair was too small, but she only smiled a little bit. It was tea, after all, and she had to mind her manners.

"I knew she had a secret stash somewhere," he said, "Cookie hoarder."

"It's in the drawer by the kitchen door."

"Good to know." He poured out some tea into one of the cups and then dropped in three cubes of sugar and poured in a bit of milk, just the way she liked it. After putting the tea cup on her side of the table, he fixed his own cup. "One day I'm going to teach you to like your tea black."

"Ew," she said, wrinkling up her nose, dropping the politeness, "That's gross."

"Is not," he said, pouring his own cup, "You don't need so much sugar anyways, you'll rot all your teeth out of your head. It'll be disgusting. We'll have to get you wooden teeth."

"Nuh-uh," she said. She took a sip of tea at the same time as her dad, both of her hands wrapped around the cup, and then sighed. Oh, but it really was good like this. She grinned up at him as she nudged a third cookie onto his plate. "I'm really happy you came to tea, Papa."

He gave her a quick, small smile, and she knew he was happy, too.


End file.
